ABSTRACT
As the Dow Jones industrial average shatters one record after another, many Americans feel left out of the celebration. Rightly so, the benefits of economic growth in the last three decades have been very unequally distributed. While stock prices and profit rates have soared, average wages and income have fallen or stagnated, and income instability has worsened. Income and wealth inequality have widened. The late 1990s boom has moderated some of these trends, but not sufficiently to undo the damage of the previous twenty-five years. These changes mark the reversal of post—World War II trends toward broader prosperity, and reductions in poverty and inequality. While globalization and technological change have contributed to these shifts, conscious business strategy has also played a crucial role.
